Pokémon GO is a great game. When it was first released in 2016, it inspired people to get out and walk, motivating a lot of health improvement journeys and encouraging connections globally during the height of the pandemic, but as updates come and go, there are a few aspects of the game that either have been left behind or shifted to become more obnoxious as time went on. Here’s a list of the first five on our minds. If you have another you think we missed, please let us know in the comments. Even better, if you have a solution that we haven’t listed to one of these problems, let us know!

5. Sinnoh Stones

With every other evolution stone, you can get it on a seventh day spin or on your seventh day of doing a research tasks. I have a hoard of Sun Stones, King’s Rocks, Metal Coats, Dragon Scales, and more which will likely never been used, but my list of evolutionary line is full of Murkrows, Lickitungs, Electabuzz, and more waiting for me to collect enough Sinnoh Stones. The rate of Pokémon ready to evolve versus stones ready for them is never close to even, and as someone who has a plan to get their own murder of Honchkrow and has an Edgar and Allan waiting for a Poe, my impatience is constantly growing.

Of all the items on this list, getting Sinnoh Stones is at least one there are potential solutions for. They aren’t great. You’ll need to Mega Battle a team leader daily and participate regularly in battles, which can easily get time consuming, and depending on your luck, might still not get you a Sinnoh Stone, but at least you have some control over the logistics.

4. Ditto

Across Discords and Reddit forums about the game, you’ll find most folks have that one Pokémon that they just can’t find, but one little guy pops up more often than many legendaries – Ditto. You won’t see a Ditto pop up as itself on screen. There are a few different lists of Pokémon that Ditto may hide as including:

1. Sentret
2. Buuneary
3. Teddiursa
4. Whismur
5. Slakoth
6. Mankey
7. Seedot
8. Growlithe
9. Voltorb
10. Magnemite
11. Duskull
12. Surskit

But the disguise list changes with each new season and during special events, so there’s a chance the list above will (or if you’re reading this in September 2026 or later) has changed. Best odds are during Ditto-Themed events or research, April Fools, or during weeks with special events (i.e., Transform Week) that see an increased rate of Dittos. One of the best clues is if suddenly a single Pokémon is everywhere on your map with no other ones in sight. It isn’t a guarantee, but there could be a Ditto in that herd if that herd is one of the Ditto-disguise options.

If a DLC or follow-up of any sort comes out for Pokémon Pokopia, I’d also expect another Ditto event to happen as a lot of Pokémon GO players caught their Dittos during the original release.

3. Mega Energy

Mega Energy is essential for the completionists who want to collect every form in their Pokédex; however, getting Mega Energy is a pain, and if a Mega Raid for the right Pokémon doesn’t show up, then you’re out of luck, making the collection process a drag. The separation of Mega Energy between different Mega Evolution forms also increases the difficulty of collecting the evolution entries, and with the number of Pokémon ever growing, the limit seriously doesn’t feel like it exists.

Some research tasks can help you earn Mega Energy, but that’s just another gamble. What are the odds of the task? What are the odds the task will be for the Mega Energy you need? It’s a never ending loop, and with Mega Energy often needing to be 100+ to evolve and the energy for tasks being closer to 10-25 for Field Research and maybe 50-100 for Special Tasks (which are rare), it’s a time consuming prospect to get them all. If you want a rough idea of the cost, Polygon released an article back in February of this year with some stats and helpful hints.

What would be great for both Mega Energy is if you could trade them. Of course, you could trade someone your non-Mega evolved Pokémon and have them evolve it and trade it back, but there’s no guarantee your friends will have the evolution you’re looking for, so it’s just another solution built on an ‘if only.’

2. Zygarde Cells

Once you have your Zygarde Cube, it’s a slow grind of 3 cells per day. That means you’re looking at roughly 84 or so days to get enough cells if you’re able to get the full per day amount. Each route you do can only supply one cell, so you can’t just repeat a route. For more rural folks with fewer PokéStops and Gyms to create routes from, first step is really to try to create at least 3 routes to ensure you even have the opportunity to do what you need. Ultimately, most instruction sites suggest you expect it to take at least 4 months.

Please note, the Explorer Gadget does not collect these cells, so if you’re using it to avoid having to have your phone out, don’t expect it to help you with this.

1. Gimmighoul Golden Lure Module

If you ever want to evolve your Gimmighoul, good luck. Those with Pokémon Scarlet & Violet can send a Mystery Gift to their Pokémon GO account once per day. The rest of us have to wait for a Roaming Form Gimmighoul event and spin like mad. Each spin gets 5-25 Gimmighoul Coins, and considering the rest period, you’ll likely be able to get maybe 100-150 coins at best per lure if you’re on top of it the entire time, which means you’ll need probably 10 lures to get enough coins to evolve your Gimmighoul into a Gholdengo.

Some folks have reported getting coins while walking Gimmighoul as their Buddy, but it’s infrequent and no clear way to measure how fast that may (or may not) be to get the amount you’ll need. I currently have mine as my Buddy, and after a week of walking (25KM+), I’m no richer in coins. In the end, if you don’t have Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, the best bet is to coordinate with other trainers who do have that it.

Unsurprisingly, all of these are around evolution mechanics. Considering that’s the core of the game, those being the hardest, most time-consuming, and annoying bits isn’t a shocker. That being said, this list does not include the luck of the draw aspects of raids themselves or the multitude of region-specific events. Walking and trading are two big aspects meant to get around those limitations, and at the end of the day, Pokémon GO isn’t a game you can play solo. The main Discord for the game has plenty of folks who offer their code in hopes of making in-game friends across the globe, and those friendship have minimal interaction; however, to unlock trade remotely, you will need to send a lot of gifts back and forth, and those can give a lot of location information.

Despite all this, Pokémon Go remains a great motivator to get people walking and adventuring with new features, including the Explorer Gadget, which means that you don’t have to be staring at your screen to collect Pokémon and spin PokéStops.

And as always, join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.

Featured Image: Pokémon GO

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